As I write, Plant Biology 2018 is in the rear view mirror, and I’m eager to focus my attention on Plant Biology 2019. I’m already planning for my favorite plant week of the year. The last day in Montreal, I won the raffle at the San Jose Convention & Visitors Bureau booth. Included was a book called 100 Things to Do in San Jose Before You Die. Although I cannot get all 100 done in the five days of Plant Biology 2019, I am excitedly flipping through the book to mark must-see activities and restaurants. One section of the book is called “Mind the Geek,” so of course I started there.

Did you know San Jose has the world’s largest Monopoly board? Or that peregrine falcons are housed in City Hall? The city is also home to a rose garden with 3,500 shrubs covering 189 varieties. And in San Jose, Taco Tuesday is a real thing! I know what I’m eating on August 6!

This will be my first Plant Biology meeting with my PhD and assistant professor title. I am starting my own lab in January 2019 (my first student just planted her first batch of soybeans!). I don’t know if we will have any data (or travel funds) to bring my first research student to present a poster but I’m hopeful. Regardless, the Primarily Undergraduate Institutions section and undergraduate research meetings are high on my list of things to attend.

As a new professor, I already have questions. Undoubtedly, as I grow my lab, I will run into many more. The meeting in San Jose gives me the opportunity to talk to professors from small universities to get tips and tricks from my colleagues. I know it is 204 days away, but each day I get a little more excited to attend. On Plantae, 100 days before the meeting begins (April 25, 2019), I will be making daily posts on a thread about 100 things to do in San Jose.

I hope you will check in, and if you have been to the Bay Area, please reply with your review and impressions. If you have not been there but want to weigh in, feel free! Maybe we can start getting tour (networking) groups together in plenty of time before the meeting starts. Hope to see you all on Plantae and in San Jose!

For full meeting information, including travel grants (due Jan 30!) and abstracts (due March 7!) see the main meeting page http://plantbiology.aspb.org/